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As The Dust Settles

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Welcome to the final (and definitely longest) arc: the Godling arc! The gang survived Andreas' attack, but only just. Will they be able to pick up the pieces in time to deal with the next threat?

CWs: references to previous whump, suicide attempt, beatings, Andreas

As The Dust Settles

Maddie blinked the colours out of her eyes, trying to regain her bearings after that blinding flash. What just happened? Did Jordyn pull the sword out?

Whatever she did, it took that mysterious light from before with it, because the room was now pitch black. That horrible buzzing was gone, too. Madeline fished her phone out of her pocket and turned on the flashlight, taking in her surroundings.

The floating corpse that once housed the Godling was now lying on the floor in a heap, looking no different from any other long-decayed body, aside from the golden blood dripping from its wounds. Next to it was Jordyn, naked as the day she was born, curled up in the foetal position and holding something dark against her chest.

Maddie rushed over. Shards of black metal covered the ground around her, some of them coated in that weird gold substance. Was this what was left of the sword? She couldn’t imagine the Godling keeping the thing that sealed it away in one piece.

Oh fuck. The Godling was free. That only just clicked for her. They’d failed. Everyone was fucking dead and they’d failed to even stop anything. At least it seemed like Andreas didn’t get the wish he wanted, considering he was still slumped in the corner, drooling blood.

She could ponder the horror of her situation later. Right now, what was in front of her was more important. Jordyn. She was alive, and she was here. Maddie had to hold onto that.

She knelt down, gently putting a hand on Jordyn’s shoulder.

“Jordyn? Are you alright?” she whispered. For some reason, it felt wrong to raise her voice here.

Her skin was warm. A good sign, probably. Maddie jostled her and she rolled onto her back, revealing that the thing she was clutching was the hilt of the sword, now just a broken piece of garbage. But she still wasn’t responding.

Madeline leaned down, gently pressing an ear against Jordyn’s chest. Her heart was still beating. She was alive.

Maddie sighed, pulling back. “Fuck. What are we gonna do?”

Who’d they still have left? Herself and Jordyn. Brianna. Steve’s injuries looked survivable, if he got help. Maggie’s, too. But would they be able to get the help they needed in the midst of a brand new Godling invasion? Would they even be in fighting shape in time to do anything?

Was it really just them against a literal demigod?

She looked down at Jordyn. Tears welled up in her eyes again. This was so fucked.

—

Vivienne blinked, looking up at Brianna’s crying face. Her mouth tasted like blood, all the way down the back of her throat. What happened?

She remembered… waiting for Jordyn. And then… Andreas appeared. He… He shot her?

…Well, she certainly didn’t feel like she’d just been shot.

“Brea?” she muttered, coughing slightly and tasting more blood. “What happened?”

Brea’s eyes went wide, her hands cupping Vivienne’s cheeks. “Viv?! Oh… Oh my god! You’re alive!”

Vivienne frowned. “I think so.”

Brianna’s face crumpled as another wave of tears came on. She leaned down, pressing her forehead against Vivienne’s. “Oh thank fuck. Fuck! We thought we lost you.”

Vivienne sat up, turning to face Brianna. It was then that she noticed she had something wrapped around her chest; what looked like a jacket holding down a bundle of socks. They were soaked in blood, as was most of her blouse. She removed what could’ve only been a makeshift bandage, and found a hole in her shirt. Though, when she reached inside to investigate, her skin was undamaged.

“Did I actually get shot…?” she wondered out loud.

“Yes!” Brianna practically yelled. “You… you were dying! How are you okay now?!”

“I… I don’t know,” Viv muttered. “What happened?”

“Andreas is making a move for the Godling. He… He’s controlling Jordyn, somehow. You got shot right away, and Maddie protected us, but I don’t know how anyone else is doing. Maggie and Hex showed up, but I haven’t heard from them in a while, and there was a huge explosion or something earlier. Maddie went to go check things out a few minutes ago.”

Andreas? Controlling Jordyn? Godling? Explosion?

Viv shot to her feet. “Oh shit, we need to go!”

Brianna followed her up. “Go where?”

“Go help! Here, I’ll teleport us.”

Viv reached out for her, but Brianna pulled away.

“What… what would I do? I’ll just slow you down. I’ll, um… I’ll wait here in case emergency services arrive.”

Viv frowned. This wasn’t like her. Something about this whole situation must have seriously shaken her.

Viv grabbed her wrist. “I’m not leaving you alone here. It’s not safe. If it gets dangerous, I’ll teleport you right out, okay?”

Brianna pouted, but nodded anyway. Viv’s assurance didn’t seem to make her any happier. Something was definitely going on with her. But, that was for later. Right now, stopping Andreas was more important.

The door to the Godling's prison was probably the best place to go, so that was where Vivienne focused her teleport. The air popped as their surroundings shifted, from the wide open space of the conference room to the dingy, claustrophobic hallways leading up to the prison.

Hex was there, kneeling on the ground at Maggie's side. Her front was covered in blood, just like Vivienne's. Maggie seemed to be unconscious, but it wasn't obvious what was wrong with her. Beyond them, the prison laid wide open, its maw dark and intimidating. Andreas and Jordyn must've been down there. Was it all already over?

“Maggie, wake up,” Hex beckoned, shaking her sister.

“What happened here?” Viv asked, leaning down.

Hex looked up at her, and her eyes widened. “Oh, you got healed too?”

Viv frowned. “Healed?”

“Yeah. Andreas made Jordyn almost kill us. I thought for sure we were gonna die, but about a minute ago, everything was just… fixed. Seriously, Maggie was all twisted up but now she's fine, she's just not waking up.”

How could that be possible? Was it someone's power? Viv didn't know of anyone at the Union with an ability like that, though. And, Brianna would have definitely noticed them.

Maggie groaned, her face twitching. Hex rushed to help her up.

She opened her eyes as Hex propped her up against the wall. “What…?”

“You got healed!” Hex excitedly explained.

“I can see that,” Maggie replied, flexing her arm. She noticed Vivienne and looked up. “Oh, you're alive. That's good.”

“I got healed too, somehow.”

“What's up with that?” Maggie asked.

Viv shrugged. “Not sure. I'd guess it has something to do with whatever's going on down there.” She nodded towards the prison.

As if on cue, the sound of a footstep echoed up through the darkness, along with a familiar-sounding grunt of exertion. That was Maddie's voice, no doubt about it.

She emerged from the shadows, carrying someone naked over her shoulder. Viv would recognise Jordyn’s butt anywhere. In her other hand was… a shoe? No, someone's ankle, the owner of which was being dragged up the steps behind her. Judging by Maddie's lack of care, that could only be Andreas. Did she stop them?

Madeline looked up, noticing the people in her path. Her eyes went wide. “Oh my god.”

Vivienne awkwardly waved. “Hey, snowball.”

It seemed like she wanted to just drop everything and run over, but thankfully, she had enough restraint to hold back. Jordyn had received enough head injuries for a lifetime. Maddie’s eyes filled with tears. “Y-you… you guys… you’re okay! How?!”

Maggie shrugged, getting to her feet. Hex frantically supported her, like she was still afraid she’d fall apart. “We don’t know. What happened down there?”

A strange expression passed across Madeline’s face. She walked forward until she was completely clear of the prison opening, and dumped Andreas on the ground. “I broke his fucking jaw, that’s what happened. We should get him restrained before he wakes up. But…”

She sighed, carefully setting Jordyn down against the wall. Other than her exposed state, she seemed totally unharmed. “I couldn’t stop her from pulling out the sword. The Godling is free.”

The news washed over Vivienne like ice water. It was over then, right? The world was done. They were just living on borrowed time now.

“What about the wish?” Hex asked.

Maddie shrugged. “I can’t imagine Andreas got what he wanted, considering… y’know.” She vaguely waved over to him. “So, I guess that means Jordyn got it. Dunno what she wished for, though.”

Oh. It all made sense now.

“She wished for us,” Vivienne said. “For all of us to survive.”

They all looked down at her. She seemed… almost peaceful.

“She could’ve had anything in the whole world, yet she wished for her friends to be okay,” Maggie said. “How very Jordyn.”

Vivienne hummed. That was the girl she fell in love with.

All of a sudden, Maddie darted forward, wrapping Vivienne in a hug.

“Sorry,” she whimpered quietly, voice shaking a little. “I just really really need this.”

Viv smiled, hugging her back. It was a weird sensation, basically having slept through all of this horror. Everyone else was so clearly traumatised, and Vivienne only knew of it second-hand.

It must’ve been so terrifying. Vivienne’s heart hurt for her.

“Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah, you’d better not,” she sniffled.

—

They found Steve, Ashley, and Siobhan in the halls. Both of the men desperately needed a shower and a change of clothes, so that was priority number one. Evidently, the Godling could fix a broken skeleton, but it couldn’t un-shit your pants. Also, oddly, Steve’s missing fingers didn’t grow back; the stumps just healed over. Apparently, the Godling didn’t see that as important enough to care about. Emergency services finally started arriving, so Maddie and Siobhan broke off to deal with them, shooing them away. They needed to figure out the full scope of the situation before announcing anything about Andreas or the Godling publicly. Speaking of Andreas, Steve left him handcuffed to a weight rack in the gym. He could stay there and think about what he did until the rest of them figured out what the hell they were supposed to do with him.

Meanwhile, Vivienne and Brianna took care of Jordyn, getting her dressed and making her comfortable on the couch in the rec room. Viv pulled the blanket up to her chin, leaning down and gently kissing her hairline.

She sighed. She still had no idea what Jordyn actually went through tonight, and the uncertainty was killing her. How did Andreas get a hold of her in the first place? Would she ever be okay again, after being forced to almost kill all of her friends like that? There was just no way to know.

But Vivienne would stick with her, regardless.

Brianna was oddly quiet throughout the whole process. In fact, she’d barely said a word since Vivienne teleported her to the prison entrance. She wasn’t physically harmed in the attack, but Vivienne couldn’t imagine the mental strain she’d been under.

“Hey,” she whispered, gently nudging Brea’s shoulder. “You okay?”

It took a moment for her to respond. She shrugged. “I guess.”

“What’s on your mind?” Viv prompted.

Brea let out a shaky sigh. “It’s just… I don’t know.” She tried to move over to the armchair, but without her cane, she didn’t notice the coffee table in the way, and slammed her shin into it.

“FUCK!” she yelled, clutching her leg.

Viv rushed over, trying to guide her to the chair, but Brianna shrugged her off.

“Don’t! I can find it myself,” she snapped.

“Oh, okay. Sorry.” Viv backed off.

Brianna held her hand out, turning it into smoke which then crept across the room until it found a clear path to the chair. Brea followed it, flopping into it with a huff once she reached her destination.

“It’s just… when you got shot, I couldn’t do anything. When Maddie and I were trapped behind ice, unable to help, I couldn’t do anything. Even when the ice melted and Maddie ran off to stop Andreas, I still couldn’t do anything! All I could do was just… sit there and listen to you die! It made me realise, why… Why am I even here? What good am I to all of you? I can’t help out. I can’t even see. All I do is just soak up resources. The only time I get called out is when there are people trapped after a monster attack, and the only thing I’m good at is locating them under the rubble. I basically have the same application as a fucking sniffer dog. I’m useless!”

Oh. Oh Brea. Viv sat down on the coffee table, facing her. “You’re not useless just because you can’t help out much with Hero stuff, Brea. We’re all… we’re all good at different stuff, y’know? And, your rescue work is invaluable! Do you know how many more lives might’ve been lost in the attacks if you hadn’t helped find people? Those people got to go home to their families because of you. And that’s not to mention, you’re so good with people. You’re the one who got Jordyn out of her shell when she first came here.”

“Well, that hardly counts,” she muttered. “I didn’t know what was going on then, I just thought she wanted to screw around. Yeah, I… I guess I helped her out, but being a discount therapist doesn’t do much good when push comes to shove, though, does it? Andreas almost killed everyone. And I couldn’t do anything!” Frustrated tears welled up in her eyes. This was really getting to her.

Vivienne hummed. She could see where Brea was coming from. That feeling of just wanting to do anything to help, she could relate to that a lot. It must be difficult when your options were so limited; that wasn’t a problem Viv had ever had to deal with.

“Maybe, that’s… something you could work on? You haven’t really explored your power for all that much other than feeling around, right? Maybe you could try and find some new way to use it? Or… I dunno, maybe Maggie or Jordyn or someone could give you combat lessons. Just because you’re blind doesn’t mean you can’t join in the fight. It’ll probably be a handy skill to have, in the coming days. Who knows what’ll happen now.”

Brianna sighed. “I guess so. Just… let me mope for a while, okay? Tonight’s been… Tonight’s been hard. Sorry for lashing out.”

Vivienne smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll give you some space.” She stood up. “Keep an eye on Jordyn for me.”

Brianna’s lips quirked into a tiny smile. “Okay.”

—

Viv watched as Andreas stirred, waking from his concussion-induced slumber. It was just the two of them in the empty gym. Everyone else was in Ashley’s office, trying to come up with a plan, or maybe just ordering pizza. Considering the world might be gone by tomorrow morning, the two seemed equally as important as each other. No use wasting their last few hours starving, regardless of whether they were gonna fight or just hold hands and wait for the end. If she was gonna die tonight, she wanted to be fat and happy doing so.

But before that… She had a few things she wanted to ask before anyone else showed up.

Andreas groaned, lifting his head and analysing his surroundings. When he found her, his eyes widened.

“Wh… what? How? How are you alive?” His voice lisped from the missing teeth and broken jaw. Vivienne wondered if there would ever be a chance to fix it. Probably not. Because, y’know. He unleashed the Godling and doomed the world.

“Jordyn’s wish healed us,” she explained. “The only thing you achieved tonight was releasing the Godling. So, congrats. I hope you got what you wanted.”

She saw the moment it clicked behind his eyes. Saw the stages of grief begin. She would be lying if she said it wasn’t at least a little satisfying. His life’s horrible work, reduced to this.

“What? No. No! That can’t be right! What about my wish?! My… My power?!”

He began looking around frantically, as if he’d find his answers somewhere else in the room. But she was the only one there. Viv grabbed his hair, forced him to look at her.

“Don’t you get it? Jordyn was the one who pulled the sword out. You don’t get a wish, motherfucker!”

He fell silent, staring through her. His entire world must’ve been falling apart around him. Good. She let go of him and stepped back, letting his head hang.

They remained in silence for a few minutes before he seemed to finally process the revelation. Andreas took a deep breath and looked up at her.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“What did you do to Jordyn?”

He sneered. “Why don’t you ask her yourself? I’m assuming she’s out there with the rest of your little friends, celebrating your victory.”

She clenched her fists as a sudden anger bubbled up inside of her. “There’s nothing to celebrate. Everyone’s going to die, and it’s all your fault.”

That seemed to sober him up a bit. “Yes… I… I suppose it is.” He didn’t seem happy about it.

Vivienne folded her arms. “Jordyn hasn’t woken up yet, anyway. And I don’t want to disturb her. She’s been through too much tonight.”

Andreas was silent for a moment. “So… You’re looking to get some information from me instead. So you can, what? Make her feel better? Give her a little pat on the back and tell her everything will be alright? Well, it won’t. The only reason the Godling is free and not just a bad memory is because that useless little rat made the wrong wish! I would have destroyed It completely if she had just wished for Its power to be transferred to me! You tell me it’s my fault?! It’s hers!”

There was a strange sound as he shouted the last word. Pain flickered across his face. What did he just…?

“You want to know what I did to her?” he hissed. “Come a little closer and you can find out all about it.”

She raised an eyebrow, tamping down her anger at his words. As if this could be anyone’s fault but his. “I’m not gonna do that.”

He sighed through his nose. “Fine. Then I’ll just come to you.”

All of a sudden, Andreas leapt at her, handcuffs hanging from his right wrist. Vivienne didn’t have any time to react before he struck her across the face, tackling her to the ground and wrapping his hands around her neck. Fuck. Fuck! She couldn’t breathe!

“You wanna know what I did? Huh?!” he asked as Vivienne struggled, clawing uselessly at his hands. Her chest was already burning. “I had my clones take her down. One broke her arm, and then knocked her out. Then, I cut open the back of her neck, and replaced the chip that you removed with an upgrade. She couldn’t so much as blink without my say-so! Once she’d woken back up, I drilled a muzzle onto her face so that she would always remember her place as the useless dog she is! And then we marched. We came here, and I made her break each of her friends, one by one! Are you satisfied?! Is that what you wanted to hear?!”

His words filled her with pure, unadulterated rage, but she couldn’t express it like this. Tears streamed down her cheeks. No air could squeeze through her crushed throat. She reached up, scratching at his face, digging furroughs through his skin with her nails. He barely reacted, just glaring down at her with those fierce, hard eyes.

Teleport.

Teleport!

It doesn’t matter where, just GO!

Vivienne teleported to the only place she could think of; Ashley’s office, where everyone else was.

“What the-?”

“Oh fuck!”

The pressure disappeared from her throat as Maggie’s boot sent Andreas flying. Viv gasped in as much air as she could, coughing and sputtering, as Steve knelt down to help her.

Andreas hit the wall, and Mads and Maggie descended on him like scorned furies, kicking the absolute shit out of him. Viv took a second to recentre herself after the scare, and then leapt out of Steve’s arms to join in, punching him in the face over and over. He wasn’t getting off that easy after everything he did.

She let the anger consume her; everything that had been slowly building in her soul since the day she and Jordyn met. Every horrible abuse and tiny indignity he inflicted on her flashed in her mind, and she paid him back with a punch for each. They were sloppy, and just as painful for her due to her poor technique, but that didn’t matter. He’d passed out again a good ten seconds ago, but that didn’t matter either. She just needed to get everything out.

Eventually, someone grabbed her around the middle and hauled her off of him, panting and sweating and maybe crying a little, too. It was Maddie.

“Viv, you alright? You’ve got a black eye.”

Now that the adrenaline was starting to wear down, she could tell it was the truth. Her eye throbbed in time with her knuckles, stinging slightly. Ugh, dickhead.

“How did he get free?” Steve asked.

“I’m not sure,” she replied, wiping a trickle of blood from her nose. “Slipped out of the cuffs somehow. What are we gonna do with him?”

“I’ve already called a guy to convert one of the dorm rooms into a cell,” Ashley said. “He should be here soon. But until then, Andreas never leaves our sight.”

Now that things had calmed down a bit, she processed what Andreas actually said to her. She walked over and kicked him in the balls. Hopefully, it would still hurt once he was awake.

“Woah! What’s gotten into you?”

Vivienne grit her teeth. “He drilled a fucking muzzle onto her head,” she growled.

Maggie gaped. “That’s what that thing was?!”

She stalked over and followed in Viv’s footsteps, with equal ferocity. Andreas let out a pathetic whine.

Vivienne sighed, sitting down on the couch. Maddie summoned a chunk of ice and wrapped it in a polishing cloth she nabbed from Ashley’s desk, offering it. Viv gratefully took it, pressing it against her eye. At least that was all sorted. Andreas wouldn’t be getting away any time soon.

But fuck. What a night.

—

I opened my eyes slowly, staring up at the familiar ceiling of the Union rec room. Strangely, nothing hurt. In fact, I was quite comfortable.

That didn’t make any sense.

How did I get here? Why… why wasn’t I in pain anymore? My shoulder was dislocated. My humerus was broken. My jaw had literally been drilled into. But I couldn’t feel any of it. All I could feel was the warmth of the blanket covering me and the soft clothing I was inexplicably wearing. I wiggled my toes and felt the insides of fluffy socks. Not the hard insides of my armour’s boots, or even the worn out coarseness of my gym socks from before Andreas caught me. How?

I racked my brains, trying to sort through all of my memories of the past few hours. Had I just dreamt all of it? Surely not, right? Nightmares were a common occurrence, but that? That was too much. Too real. It couldn’t have been one. But nothing else explained my missing injuries.

But… If all of that was just a nightmare, then where did the rest of the night go? Why did I have no memory of coming to the Union, safe and sound, doing whatever it was we did, and changing into these clothes? If I’d just gotten drunk and passed out or something – which was already unlikely on its own, thanks to my distaste for alcohol – I doubted Vivienne would’ve left me here. We would’ve teleported home together.

A horrible sense of unease washed over me. What was real? What actually happened? None of it added up.

I sat up, looking around the room. Brianna was curled up in one of the armchairs, fast asleep. Surely, if those horrible things had actually happened, she wouldn’t be nearly so calm, right?

But where was Vivienne? Why wasn’t she here? Nightmare or not, I needed to see her. Needed to hold her. Needed to make sure she was alive and not lying on the floor of the conference room, bleeding out and choking.

I quietly got up, still marvelling at the lack of pain anywhere, and plodded out into the hallway. The conference room. That was where I needed to go.

It wasn’t a long trip, but it felt like miles with the way my heart wouldn’t stop pounding, my mind replaying the possibilities over and over. I had no idea what to expect. Right now, Vivienne was both alive and dead until I confirmed one or the other and collapsed the innumerable different versions of events into one reality. Staying in this uncertain ignorance was tempting, but I couldn’t hide from it. I needed to know.

I turned the corner into the conference room, afraid of what I would find.

There was no dome of ice in the corner anymore. No limp, empty body, discarded on the floor. That was a good sign, I supposed. I wanted so badly to just stop there and accept it, go back to the rec room, and return to sleep. But something pushed me forward, closer to the site.

There was a red spot on the carpet, right where Vivienne had fallen in my memories. That was it then. The truth.

Vivienne was dead, and it was all my fault.

And that meant it was all real. Ashley, Steve, Hex, and Maggie too. I couldn’t remember what happened after Andreas and I descended into the Godling’s prison. Probably something equally as horrible.

Almost all of my friends were gone. Brianna was the only one I knew for sure was alive. Even then, she was probably just meant to be watching over me so I didn’t escape. There was no way whoever was left would want anything to do with me now. I didn’t want anything to do with me.

The discrepancy with my injuries barely even occurred to me. It was so inconsequential in the face of everything, that it couldn’t have meant much anyway. I needed to go.

I stumbled blindly back down the hallways, tears streaming down my cheeks as my body brought me to a place I knew would have what I needed. The kitchen.

Searching through the drawers, it didn’t take long to find it. A long, sharp knife, mostly used for chopping up vegetables when we were cooking. It would do nicely.

I grabbed it, examining the blade, testing its edge. The skin on my finger split, blood pooling, running down my hand in a gentle trickle. A tiny precursor of what was to come.

All it would take was one slash in the right spot. One good stab between my fourth and fifth ribs. And it would all be over. This waking nightmare would end. I could join Vivienne, wherever she was, and apologise. Maybe then, everything would be okay.

Taking a deep breath, I held the knife up against my neck. I would cut clean through my carotid. The lack of blood pressure in my brain would cause me to pass out quickly, and then I would peacefully drift away. A much more merciful end than I deserved, but it was the only one I could sum up the courage for.

Okay. Here goes nothing. Three… Two… One…

“Oh! Jord- Oh. Okay. Jordyn? Could you turn around?”

Madeline’s voice. Far too soft given the circumstances. She should be screaming at me. Raging. She should be taking this knife and thrusting it into my neck herself. I turned around.

She stood in the doorway, holding her hands out. “Hey, Jordyn. Just… Just put down the knife, okay? Everything’s gonna be fine.”

I shook my head. “No. I- I can’t. Viv’s- Everyone’s gone. I don’t… I don’t wanna be here anymore.”

“No one’s dead, Jordyn. We all survived. They’re just… In the other room, okay. Put down the knife, and we can go see them. There’s… there’s pizza too, if you’re hungry.” She took a step forward.

No. No, that couldn’t be right. I saw them die. “You’re lying.”

“Would I lie to you, Jordie? Come on, you know me. It was the wish you made, remember? It fixed everyone.”

I wanted to believe her. I wanted to so badly. I knew deep down that I should. But I couldn’t accept it, not after everything.

She took another step forward, holding out her hand. “Gimme the knife, Jordyn. Then we can go see everyone. Viv’s been real worried about you.”

For some reason, that was what did it. Finally, hands shaking, I dropped the knife. It clattered to the ground and Maddie darted forward, wrapping me in a warm hug. The tears that had been steadily falling since I wandered into the conference room turned into heavy sobs as the wall of horrible, numb certainty broke. Viv was alive. Everyone was alive. Maddie wouldn’t lie. I had to believe her.

“I’m sorry!” I wailed, crying into Maddie’s chest. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s cool, dude. No one blames you. We know you didn’t wanna do all of that.”

I couldn’t respond, too overwhelmed with the outpour of emotion in my chest, so I just held on for dear life. Maddie rubbed my back, softly shushing me.

Eventually, I calmed down enough to speak. “Don’t tell them,” I muttered. “Please don’t tell them.”

“I won’t,” Maddie whispered back. “From a girl who’s been there, trust me. Your secret’s safe.”

I pulled back, wiping my eyes. “Can we… go see everyone?”

Maddie smiled. “Sure.”

It was a short walk to Ashley’s office, where they all apparently were, and it passed by quickly. My gut squirmed with anxiety and relief. I was eager to see everyone, but would they all share Madeline’s forgiveness of what I’d done? I clutched her hand as we walked, seeking any contact to alleviate the nerves. She didn’t seem to mind.

Maddie opened the door when we arrived. “Guess who I found wandering around?”

I peeked my head around the doorframe. Sure enough, it was exactly like she said. Everyone was there, and no worse for wear. Aside from Viv, who had a black eye, though that didn’t match up with anything I could remember. God, I hope I didn’t somehow do that.

Her face lit up, and she shot up from the couch. “Jordyn! You’re awake!”

She popped, appearing right in front of me, wrapping me in a tight hug. Her hair still smelled like her strawberry shampoo. Everything… was okay.

I couldn’t help it. I broke down sobbing all over again.

Everything was okay.

—

“So… They didn’t have names other than their numbers?” Maggie asked.

I shook my head. “Not as far as I know. They only ever called themselves or each other ‘Eight, Nine, and Ten.’”

“Damn. I guess Andreas got lazy after you escaped.”

I was leaning against Vivienne’s side on the couch, picking at a slice of pizza and recounting my perspective of events to the best of my ability. No one made me go over what happened once I got to the Union, thankfully. I’d much rather pretend that was all a nightmare. But the three clones were important. They were probably still at Andreas’ hideout, waiting for us to return. They’d be waiting a while. Vague plans were being formed to pick them up tomorrow morning and take them in, but it was all still quite nebulous. Ten would probably kick up a fuss and turn it into a fight again.

None of that mattered if the world ended before the sun rose, though. Because, despite the pleasant calm the night had descended into, the Godling was still out there. I still freed It.

But there wasn’t much we could do about that right now, so we were trying to ignore it, and enjoy the time we had. Who knew when it would all end?

Ashley’s friend had come along and quickly reworked one of the dorm room locks before I woke up, so Andreas was safely shut away in there, where he couldn’t hurt anyone. It was still unsettling having him so close, especially after tonight.

Thinking about him made me want to puke. I wished I could just hate him like he deserved, but my stupid brain was hardwired to love him, and it left me with all of these icky conflicted feelings and in the end the only thing I truly hated was myself, for not despising him enough. Maybe if I’d been more distrustful like Maggie, I wouldn’t have gotten caught in Nine’s trap, and none of this would’ve happened.

I sighed, sinking into Viv’s shoulder even more. Thinking about the what-ifs was useless. All we had was the present, and whatever we could make of the future.

Ashley rubbed his face, leaning back in his chair. “I suppose I’ll draft up an announcement tomorrow morning. People should know the Godling is free. For all the good it will do.”

“Who knows, maybe some government or other has a contingency plan set up? Maybe it’ll be okay,” Maddie said.

“I doubt that they would have one and not tell me about it,” he replied. “From what we know, the Godling is immune to conventional weaponry. The Heroes’ Unions are the closest thing we have to an anti-Godling government department, considering we were set up to handle the monster attacks. No one expected anyone to be both stupid and powerful enough to free it in the first place.”

“The Godling is immune, yes,” Siobhan said, “but Its creations are not. Advising citizens to arm themselves could help mitigate some of the damage to come. We have no idea how It will make Itself known.”

“Won’t It just blow us all up and be done with it?” Hex asked, looking glum. She’d been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time, apparently too overwhelmed by the concept of our oncoming, inevitable demise. Maggie put an arm around her shoulders, holding her close.

Siobhan shook her head. “Total annihilation would take an incredible amount of energy; energy that I would bet It doesn’t have right now. Its bindings were specifically designed to leach Its energy and prevent it from gaining enough to overcome the sword’s seal. It will take time for It to regain it now that It’s free. I expect it will be at least a few days before we see any sign of It.”

I sat up. “So, there’s hope? We might still be able to fight back and fix this?”

Siobhan smiled. “There’s always hope, my dear. Even in a situation as dire as this.”

Someone knocked on the doorframe. We all turned to look, and saw an unfamiliar clone, awkwardly standing there and waving. Her hair was far too long for her to be one of the new-borns, tied back in a ponytail with streaks of white peeking through the dark strands. She wore a black tanktop with a band logo on it; one I recognised as Maddie’s. Her irises were the colour of rust, much more orange than the standard clone shade of brown. She almost looked like… No, she couldn’t be, right?

She cleared her throat. “Uh, hi guys. Been a while, huh?”

Her accent was unmistakable. It was the exact same voice that had been whispering in my ear for the past four months. The same voice that refused to allow me access to the fire power a few hours ago. Rosalyn’s voice.

Maddie stood up. All the colour had drained from her face. “N-No. Don’t fucking do that. Don’t talk like that. It’s not funny.”

The clone frowned, looking back at her. Her eyes seemed to travel up and down Madeline’s body, taking every inch of her in. There was familiarity in her expression, but sadness too. “Talk like what? Maddie, it’s me. I don’t look that different, do I? I know I’ve been gone a long time, but-”

“Which one are you? What’s your number?” Maggie demanded.

The clone blinked, turning her gaze to Maggie. “Oh, right. The clone thing. Um, I’m… not a clone?” she turned back to the rest of us. “I’m… the original, I guess. Rosalyn?”

Madeline shook her head, stumbling back slightly. “No. N-No, you can’t be. You… She’s dead. This fucking joke isn’t funny!”

That seemed to cut the woman who claimed to be Rosalyn quite deep. Her face fell. “This isn’t a joke. It’s not a trick. It’s just… me. I woke up a few hours ago, in my own grave. Had to claw my way out and figure out what was going on. I don’t know how it happened, but… I’m alive.”

To emphasise her point, the woman held her hand up. Fire burst from her skin in a bright explosion. “Is this proof enough for you? Or do I need to do the whole, ‘share something only Rosie would know’ thing?”

“That’s not… Jordyn has fire powers, too! It doesn’t mean you’re her!”

Viv stood up. “Wait a sec, Mads. I can go verify if she’s telling the truth.”

Maddie looked at her, and nodded, eyes watering.

Viv disappeared for a few moments before coming back. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates “It’s real. Rosie’s grave is empty. I… I don’t know how, but… It’s… It’s actually her.”

Holy shit.

Rosalyn smiled softly. “Told you so. Now, are you gonna get over here and kiss me, or do I need to show you how it’s done?”

The news seemed to break Madeline. She stumbled forward, mouth agape, eyes wide. Rosalyn opened her arms, ready to catch her. They fell together, embracing. Kissing seemed a bit beyond Maddie’s abilities right now, and Rosalyn clearly recognised that.

“It’s okay now,” she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear. “I’m here, love.”

Maddie let out the most heartbreaking noise I’d ever heard, and completely broke down.

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@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

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hope everyone enjoyed! quite low energy rn so not much to say

next time, we'll see what our lovely Rosie got up to on her first night back on earth

thanks for reading!

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